This project was designed as a German/Filipino undertaking. Hardware peripherals and auxiliary programs were delivered by FIRST Corporation, the simulation software came from Germany. Finally, the largest Ship Engine Simulation Center in the world, comprising of 26 simulator stations, went into operation.
However, this simulator concept, as vast as it was, was the first of such kind for this German manufacturer and was suffering from the very first beginning with a lot of technical problems based on its physical and technological extend, software and network requirements, the assessment system without human intervention and compatibilities with the peripherals.
Consequently, FIRST Coporation had and still has to find solutions to maintain this state-of-the-art technological standard and, together with new German partners, we found ways out of the dilemma thus keeping PROFOUND-MASTER, Inc. operating and securing the working places of many Filipinos.
Should today a simulator show a problem, it is only a matter of a few minutes for the experts to re-commission it. Due to the fact that the software is based on GPL (General Public License), FIRST Corporation and the Luikov Institute, Minsk, Belarus, were able to study the existing problems and come up with own software designs and solutions to the effect, that the entire simulator equipment operated continues to correspond to latest technological and IMO/STCW requirements.
Furthermore, FIRST Corporation is now even in the position to find simulator solutions for other training centers, schools and colleges, proudly made in the Philippines and recognized by the government.
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Filipino International Resources, Science & Technologies (FIRST Corp.) Corporation did foresee this development. When in the year 2003 a government project, to be tendered by the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA), shaped up more and more, all governmental requirements were already in place. Further more, after two commercial simulator projects were successfully completed by FIRST Corporation up to the end of 2003, the principal, in its tender for bidding on the PMMA-project (funded by the German development instituition Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW)), one major component, namely having an adequately trained implementing company with an adequate professional portfolio in place, was already fulfilled. From January until July 2005, together with local subcontractors, FIRST Corp. implemented the dome which had to house the complete simulation installation. Furthermore, a virtual ship’s bridge was constructed in the second floor of that dome, whilst the full mission ship engine simulation found its place within its virtual reality environment, on the first floor. During the period from July 2005 until December 2005, together with the principal, then the General Contractor, First Corp. implemented the sophisticated full mission nautical and engine simulation installation. |
